Thankfulness: a new home

Yesterday, we finally, FINALLY closed on our new house! Believe me, it was not without stress. Everyone had been telling me that house buying is one of the most stressful life activities (somewhere up there with starting a new job and making a big move….sounds familiar??), but honestly, our house buying process was going pretty smoothly up until Friday. I ended up buying the first house I saw, even though we looked at several more after. We had a little negotiation on the price, but that was painless. The bank didn’t have any crazy requirements, and I got (what I believe to be) a good deal. So I guess I shouldn’t have been surprised when we hit a snafu on Friday afternoon that led to a delay in our closing. Luckily, it was only a seven hour delay, and we were able to close last night with a lot of help from several agents, the sweetest closing agent and my daddy.

And now, I own a house!

As a sidebar, I’d like to also interject a moment of thankfulness for the kindness of strangers. My dad was my agent, but because our closing got delayed, he couldn’t be there for the actual closing meeting. However, three wonderful ladies stepped right in to make feel right at home and comfortable in my purchase. I’m so grateful!

M and I met at the house last night. We couldn’t miss our first opportunity to be in our new home as the owners! We moved in some of the things we’ve been holding at our parents houses, like towels, curtains and the $200 worth of Christmas decorations I bought at Marshall’s this past weekend. Whoops.

To be honest, it felt really weird to put the key in the front door for the first time. I felt a little bit like I was trespassing and a little bit like I was going to have to give it back in the morning. Luckily, PNC reminded me this morning that I’m bound into a 30 year deal with the bank and that they have the right to confiscate everything I own if I’m late on a payment. I guess the house isn’t going anywhere.

But above all the confusion of closing then not closing, buying then not buying, I’m feeling really thankful that I was in a position to buy my cozy little home this year. When I think back six months, I can’t even believe how much my life has changed…and in such beautiful ways. I’m back in the place I want to be, with M and my family, in a wonderful new job and with my first little townhouse. What a happy way to enter the holiday season.

And, I’m also so grateful for the wellwishes of family and friends through this whole process. M reminded me last night that I’ve been a little challenging to deal with during the transition. I’ve been cranky and snippy and judgemental. And the transition isn’t over, so I’m trying really hard to put my best self forward this Thanksgiving week. And I’m so joyful for all of you who have put up with me. You deserve a thankfulness post all our own.

To packing up (again),

Lia

Thankfulness: books

Tonight I’m really grateful for books. There’s something about crawling in bed in a full sweatsuit under three blankets against a pile of pillows with a paperback that feels like Christmas break. Maybe it’s that carefree feeling that there’s no school tomorrow and knowing you can stay up until 3 a.m. reading if you want to. Or maybe it’s the comfort of getting lost in another world or just the coziness of bed and books. Any way, I’m feeling like that tonight.

We had our first book club meeting of my “new” Pittsburgh book club this week. And, to be honest, it was the first time I’ve felt like a book club was really going to work. We are a collection of women of different ages, different backgrounds, with a common thread throughout us, but not just a group of girlfriends looking for wine and chitchat on a Thursday night. It’s an ambitious group of ladies who were offended at the thought of someone not finishing the book. And I love them for that. And I’m just so excited. Not only for the books we’re going to read together, but for learning their stories and telling my own stories to a new group of women who share the same love for literature as me.

I truly believe that most of what I know about the world, I’ve learned through books. And not just non-fiction or text books, but fictional stories about human struggle and people different than myself. I’ve learned about patience and forgiveness and sorrow in ways that I’ve never experienced in my own life. I’ve learned about cultures and tolerance and humanity and inclusion.

And it’s not just the stories we read in books. I’m thankful for the stories my friends have told me about their heartbreaks and joys, for they’ve made me a stronger woman. I’m thankful for the stories I’ve learned from my family, for they’ve made me appreciate my heritage and want to uphold the ideals of those who came before us. I’m thankful for the stories I’ve learned from my “little sister,” whose live is vastly different than mine, for she’s taught me how two people can live so close yet in such different communities. I’m thankful for the stories of strangers, for they’ve forced me to face realities, believe in opportunity and be a more giving person.

We are our stories, and we should proudly share the moments and memories that make up our lives. And we should read books of other people’s stories to expand our own experience. And, tonight, I’m so thankful to live in a literate society and for the opportunity to read these stories in the comfort of my own bed.

(I feel a post coming up with a recap of books I’ve read in the last few months. As soon as our month of thankfulness is over.)

To telling our stories,

Lia

Thankfulness: learning

For those of you who have been reading my blog for the past year, you know I’ve been struggling at work. Not because I haven’t been doing well in my job, but because I haven’t been happy with the work I was doing on a day-to-day basis. I never thought I wanted a job in sales, but the career path I started after college lead straight that way. And it turns out that I wasn’t bad at it. But after two years of feeling like I hadn’t found “my place,” I turned my attention to finding a job that was a better fit for my personality. I’m a much more introspective and project-oriented person than my old job allowed, and I’m so excited for the creative freedom and scope of my new position.

Even though I started this job more than a month ago, this past week was my first in the Pittsburgh office. And two of those days were spent in full-day training. And it finally felt like I found my place. I was learning and challenging myself and putting the huge scope of my new job into perspective. And it felt really good. I was surrounded with people more experienced than myself, and I felt like part of a team that was working toward accomplishing something important.

I’m so grateful for the ability to learn. I used to say that if I could have any career in the world and money weren’t an obstacle, I would be a student. I loved class in college. I loved studying. I loved doing homework. (Don’t misunderstand, I loved partying too.) But I am my best self when I am learning. And I’m REALLY my best self when I’m learning and making money.

So I’m just so excited for this new challenge and new obstacles. New coworkers and new people to learn from. I know Lent is usually the season dedicated to starting over fresh, but for me, this season is fully dedicated to a new beginning for me. I’m letting myself enjoy work, along with all of the other fantastic changes that are happening in my life. A beautiful season for starting over new.

To new beginnings,

Lia

Thankfulness: service

I’m behind on updating my thankfulness blog, and I have a few posts stored that I need to update later today or this week. But, I couldn’t let this weekend go by without being really grateful for our service men and women in recognition of Veteran’s Day. I’m off of work today, which is really wonderful because there are about a million things I need to get caught up on, but I’m also thinking about the men and women who don’t get long weekends with their families and are cold and far away. And because of this, I want to share with you a story about my cousin-in-law that I’ve been thinking about all weekend.

When my cousin G met her husband B several years ago, I couldn’t be happier…except for one thing. He’s a republican. Now I have many, many conservative friends and I love them dearly. But marrying one into the family? That’s another story. However, B is one of the sweetest men I know, and even though we sometimes get into heated debates about politics, he’s a perfect addition to our family, and I’m so proud to call him a cousin. B is in the reserves, and even though his wife is seven months pregnant with their first baby, he packed up his bag and headed to provide disaster relief in NYC after Hurricane Sandy. He’s already been gone for more than a week, he missed their baby shower, and G’s dad is recovering from some pretty serious health problems. All in all, it wasn’t a great time to leave.

I don’t think it’s any accident that Veteran’s Day is so close to Election Day. Even though B might not agree with the politics President Obama and I believe in, he’s a steller example of pride in our country and a bipartisan support for our citizens. Last week, when our country was nearly evenly divided on the issues, Veteran’s Day comes around to remind us that our politics are only a part of what make us Americans. We are good and generous people, and our veterans and active servicepeople are prime examples of what the United States stands for: setting aside our own burdens to help our neighbors, giving what we are able to help those who lost everything, and not wasting a second when given the opportunity to serve.

I am so proud of my cousin-in-law and his family for what they’re sacrificing for folks they don’t even know in New York. I know it’s been a challenge for both of them, and I’m so grateful for their reminder of what it means to be an American. Even though we’re divided on our politics, we’re completely united in the spirit of humanity.

Let this Veteran’s Day be a reminder to unite on the issues most important to our country…freedom, hope, generosity, and a profound appreciation for our brothers and sisters fighting to support these ideals. B, I’m so proud of you and your family today and every day.

To the vets,

Lia

Thankfulness: freedom

Those of you who know me know that Election Day is one of my favorite days of the year. But, if you look at my Facebook or Twitter, you’ll see that I’ve been silent today. Social media scares and excites me on Election Day. It makes me excited to see how many of my friends are getting out to vote, but it scares me that our opinions are sometimes so one-sided. I have a really strong feeling about this election, but I respect the right of my friends to have an equally strong but opposite feeling about the results tonight. So, I’m keeping my opinions to myself and hoping that people are making educated votes today.

I’ve been plopped in front of CNN since the polls closed tonight. It’s bringing me back to the 2008 election when we were seniors in college. I think 2008 was the height of my political excitement. Penn State had a huge Obama presence, and I got to see him in a rally on the front steps of Old Main. It felt like a moment from the 60s…college students rallying and crying and getting out the vote. I had never been more proud to be a young American. We made red and blue cocktails and colored in an electoral map as the results were reported. We wore patriotic headdresses and red, white and blue striped outfits. And we blared Obama’s campaign song from our balcony when he won. I think a lot of people thought we were crazy, but I was such a proud American.

Today was a little different. I voted before work in regular clothes. I didn’t talk about my vote during the day with coworkers, and now I’m watching CNN with my parents and keeping our fingers crossed on Florida.

But what I’m most thankful for tonight is living in this beautiful country. A place where all of us can cast our vote and celebrate our differences and enjoy our freedom. There’s been a lot of talk about women’s rights in this election. Our access to birth control and healthcare and fair wages. And I’m totally for all of that. But when I look at women in third world countries without clean water for their babies or access to financial markets, I can’t help but be blessed for the opportunities that I have. Red or blue, elephant or donkey…we live in a beautiful country.

To another term,

Lia

Thankfulness: extended family

Finally Monday morning. This was one of those weekends that kind of felt like it would never end, but in a really wonderful way. Friday evening I packed up as much as I could and stuffed it into my car. There were bags smooshed in every direction, and I was certain that the whole car would explode if any of the doors were opened. Luckily that didn’t happen. One of my coworkers and his fiancé stopped over with a bottle of prosecco to celebrate, and all of the packing and moving finally started to feel real. Saturday morning, I hopped in my car and set off for Philadelphia to see family and participate in The Race for Hope on Sunday morning.

It was a short trip to Philly, but filled with all of the best things: delicious dinners, friends, cousins, dance parties, diner brunch and a celebration of the life of my uncle who we lost almost two years ago. We had a team of about twenty for the race, and even though the morning was cold, it was an absolutely beautiful day. It’s something my uncle would have loved…a day of family and friendly competition finished off with a big table of 12 for brunch at a local diner. It doesn’t get any easier to live without him for his family, but it’s really wonderful that all of us get the opportunity to come together and celebrate his life in such a fun way.

This weekend has made me so grateful for the wonderful relationship I have with my cousins. We’ve been lucky to see each other a lot this season, a trend that I hope doesn’t stop now that I’m living in Pittsburgh. It’s like having a big group of best friends that have known you since the very beginning and love you despite all the family drama. I’m especially lucky to have two girl cousins (and a girlfriend of a boy cousin) that are such beautiful people and special influences on my life.

Sunday afternoon I made my way back to Pittsburgh. It was such a weird feeling. I haven’t spent more than a week here in the past two years, and the concept of starting a life in this place seems unreal. I think the interim housing situation isn’t helping this strange feeling, but the anticipation of closing on our house in two weeks feels like Christmas. I’m just so excited.

Much to be thankful for.

To family and cousins,

Lia

30 days of blessed thanks.

I know a lot of people spend the month of November giving thanks, and not just on the big holiday. I try to remember to be thankful every day this time of year, but with being so busy, especially this year, I feel like I need an outlet to actively give thanks. So for November I’ll be blogging about all the wonderful things in my life. I can’t promise that I’ll blog every day, but I will try to put together 30 thankful thoughts that I’ll share in segments throughout the month.

So tonight, on the first night of November, I’m thankful for new friends. I had dinner tonight with one of my “newest” best friends. A sweet girl I met over a year ago, but didn’t become close with until about six months ago. Making girl friends as an adult is super weird. We were laughing tonight at dinner because on our first “girl date” we each kept ordering drinks because we each wanted the other to think we were “fun.” We’ve learned over the past months of friendship that neither of us are big drinkers, and we both went home absolutely trashed after trying to make a good impression on our first date. So silly.

But in all honesty, there’s something special about finding new friends as an adult. They don’t know your history and the ugly parts of your life, and you can share those experiences with more perspective than you could in high school. New friends are teaching me a lot more about loving different kids of people and expanding my social horizons, and I just love that.

So to the ladies that I’ve grown close to in Washington, I am so grateful for you. You have helped me to become an independent woman, and you’ve been an incredible blessing in a really lonely time in my life. And I will love you forever because of that. And please, please come visit me in Pittsburgh.

To making new friends,

Lia